Page 8 of Waiting For Psamathe

"Do you think the seals will be very active later?" she asked him.

"It's hard to say," Zale responded. "They don't tend to be very active at night, so the director sent over a memory card with footage from the last couple of days in case you preferred that."

"Great," she said. "We just want to make sure we showcase the seals. Sama negotiated that you get half the ticket cost, but there's no reason we shouldn't be able to get some extra donations as well. There are several sea gods in attendance tonight."

"Sama negotiated?" Zale looked at me, and embarrassment flooded to my cheeks.

Aphrodite gave me an intrigued look. "Didn't she tell you?"

"She said she needed to pick a charity."

"Oh, well I suppose that's true," Aphrodite responded. "But she didn't know that when she asked."

The intensity of Zale's gaze was almost too much to take, especially when added to the knowing look on the love goddess' face.

"Interesting," she said, nodding to herself.

"Aphie," the man beside her said in what seemed like a warning tone.

She gave him a doting look. "I don't think I've introduced you all properly yet. This is Damien, my other half, and one of the event managers at Jinx."

"Good to meet you," he said, holding out his hand.

"This is Psamathe, goddess of the beach and a nereid," Aphrodite continued.

"Most people call me Sama," I said, taking the hand of the man who had captured Aphrodite's heart. He wasn't what I expected, but then it was hard to guess who the gods would fall for, and Aphrodite wasn't exactly known for having a type beyondpretty.

"Pleased to meet you Sama, I hope Aphie isn't just outing you as a goddess."

I laughed. "Don't worry about it, everyone on the island knows."

"I found out on the day we met," Zale added. "Though she had a lot of fun with it."

"I didn't," I countered. "I just didn't realise you didn't know. I thought you were making fun of me for naming the seal pup Sama."

"Never," he promised, meeting my gaze. "I named her after you because her mum had a difficult labour and she'd already been through something like that, making her strong. Like you."

My lips parted as I stared at him. "You've never told me that before." I reached up to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear, only realising as I did that he was following my every move.

"I didn't realise," he said softly. "But that's why I called her Sama. I've been in awe of you since the very first time I heard your story."

I sucked in a sharp breath, forgetting about everything and everyone as the words settled in.

Aphrodite cleared her throat, reminding me that we weren't alone.

"Why don't I show you where the feed is meant to go," Damien said.

Zale managed to tear his attention away from me for long enough to nod.

"No meddling," Damien murmured to Aphrodite as he led the seal shifter away.

The blonde goddess studied me intently. "Well that explains one thing," she said.

"Oh?"

"Why you like the seal sanctuary so much."

"I don't know what you mean," I murmured.

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